MGT 300- BUSINESS DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY..

CHAPTER 1: BUSINESS DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY

1.1)     INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’S ROLE IN BUSINESS..

Ø     Information technology is everywhere in business.

Ø Understanding information technology provides great insight to anyone learning about business.

1.2) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’S IMPACT ON BUSINESS OPERATIONS..

FIGURE 1.1

·    Figure 1.1 shows the business functions receiving the greatest benefit from information technology, along with the common business goals associated with information technology projects according to CIO magazine..

·  Business must undertake enterprisewide initiatives to achieve broad general business goals such as reducing cost.

1.3) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’S IMPACT ON BUSINESS OPERATIONS..

·         Organizations typically operate by functional area or functional silos..

·         Functional areas are interdependent..

1.4)     INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BASICS..

·   ·         Information technology- a field concerned with the use of technology in managing and processing information..

·         IT is an important enabler of business success and innovation...

·         Management information systems (MIS)- a general name for the business function and academic discipline covering the application of people, technologies and procedures to solve business  problems…

·         MIS is a business function, similar to Accounting, Finance, Opeeations and Human Resources…

·         When beginning to learn about IT it is important to understand:

ü  Data information and business intelligence IT resources…

ü  IT cultures...

1.5)     INFORMATION...

·    Data..

·    Information..

·       Business intelligence..

1.6)   IT RESOURCES..

1.7)     IT CULTURES..

·         ·         Organizational information cultures include:

ü  Information- functional Culture..

ü  Information- sharing culture..

ü  Information- inquiring culture..

ü  Information- discovery culture..

CHAPTER  2: IDENTIFYING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

2.1) INTRODUCTION..

·    Competitive advantage is a product or service that an organization’s customers place a greater value on than (similar) offerings from a competitor..

2.2) THE FIVE FORCES MODEL..

·      Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model is useful tool to aid organization in challenging decision whether to join a new industry or industry segment..

FIGURE 2.1) PORTER’S FIVE FORCES MODEL

2.3) THE THREE GENERICS STRATEGIES..

     i.       Cost Leadership..

              Becoming a low-cost producer in the industry allows the company to lower prices to customers..

        Competitors with higher costs cannot afford to compete with the low-cost leader on price..

     i.       Differentiation..

      Create competitive advantage by distinguishing their products on one more features important to their customers..

      Unique features benefits may justify price differences and/or stimulate demand..

      Ex: i-care by Proton..

   ii.       Focus Strategy..

        Target to niche market..

        Concentrates on either cost leadership or differentiation..

             The value chains- Targetting business processes..

§  Supply chain- a chain or series of processes that adds value to product and service for customer..

§  Add value to its product and services that support a profit margin for the firm..

CHAPTER 3: STRATEGIC INITIATIVES FOR IMPLEMENTING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

3.1) STRATEGIC INITIATIVES..

Ø  Organizations can undertake high-profile strategic initiatives including:

o   Supply chain management (SCM)..

o   Customer relationship management (CRM)..

o   Business process reengineering (BPR)..

o   Enterprise resource planning (ERP)..

3.2) SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT..

ØØ  Involve the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and profitability..

Ø  Four basic components of supply chain management include:

o   Supply chain strategy- strategy for managing all resources to meet customer demand..

o   Supply chain partner- partner throughout the supply chain that deliver finished products, raw materials and services..

o   Supply chain operation- schedule for production activities..

o   Supply chain logistics- product delivery process..

3.3) CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT..

ØØ Involve managing all aspects of a customer’s relationship with an organization to increase customer loyalty and retention and an organization’s profitability..

Ø CRM is not just technology, but also a strategy, process and business goal that an organization must embrace on an enterprisewide level..

Ø CRM can enable an organization to:

o   Identify types of customers..

o   Design individual customer marketing campaigns..

o   Treat each customer as an individual..

o   Understand customer buying behaviors..

3.4) BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING..

Ø   A standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer’s order..

Ø   The analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises..

3.5) ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING..

ØØ   Intergrates all departments and functions troughout an organization into a single IT system so that employees can make decisions by viewing enterprisewide information on all business operations..
Ø   ERP systems collect data from across an organization and correlates the data generating an enterprisewide view..

·